With all eyes on the West Coast rapper, Kendrick Lamar discusses early comparisons between "good kid, m.A.A.d. city" and Nas' much-heralded "Illmatic".

Today Kendrick Lamar officially released his overwhelmingly anticipated
and hyped major studio debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city and first look at the
critical response is that the album has potential to become a classic. Some people have even described the album as
the voice of this generation of hip hop, and compared it to Nas’ lyrical opus Illmatic. Now, an always humble K.Dot, chimes in on the
lofty comparisons, and feels they are due to the relatable stories on the
album. The Compton native then retells
how Andre 3000 reacted the first time Lamar played the album for him.

An album does not become a “classic” upon release. It takes time, and its music’s longevity,
such as with Illmatic, that sets a work apart as important to a
generation. The Top Dawg rapper, was
slightly overwhelmed at comparisons to his and the QB rapper’s work. In an interview with 2DopeBoyz he says, “Illmatic?
For people to even put my album in the light of
that, is an accomplishment. It’s crazy to even be mentioned with it but it’s
scary at the same time.”

The Black Hippy artist
knows how influential that album is to people of a certain age because it was
integral for him, “That era - I wanna say the age range now would be 30, 30 to
40 - they can recognize this was the album.
Illmatic’s the album for the '90s era when I was growing up.” He
continues to elaborate on the response he has heard from fans, and says, via
HHDX, “The stories he was telling was something I can relate to. From the
response, just from the leak...these kids out here, they're all saying the same
thing: this is the feel for this era...it's just a weird feeling to be in that
same type of light.”

Realizing that his work is
yet to stand the test of time, K.Dot adds, “it takes a whole lot of
responsibility to keep that up in the long run and longevity, and that's
something I don't have yet...so Illmatic
will always be number one.”

One legendary rapper who
was not shy about heaping praise on Kendrick Lamar was Andre 3000, who got a
sneak peak at the album and was one of the first people to hear it. When asked how three stacks reacted after
hearing the album, the Compton native said, “[He] stood on the couch, put his
hands up, said ‘this is golden’.”

Kendrick’s debut album with Aftermath-Interscope, good kid, m.A.A.d city
is available now.